Turksat closes 13 TV and radio channels

Turksat has taken off air 13 video and audio channels because of their contentious content. The channels had already been removed from pay-TV operator DigiTurk at the end of October.

The channels are owned by Samanyolu Media Group. They include Samanyolu Haber TV, Mehtap TV, Yumurcak TV and Dunya TV.

According to BBC Monitoring, the Ankara prosecutor’s office ordered in late October that the Koza Ipek Media Group to be placed under the management of a trustee panel during the investigation into the media group’s purported ties to the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leading figures from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have long accused Gulen of heading a purported terrorist organisation to topple the Turkish government with his followers working as insiders in the police, judiciary and other state institutions.